During summer time, we can zest up our salads by adding a few crunched tarragon leaves freshly picked from our garden. Tarragon, also called estragon or dragon herb from its coiled serpentine-like root, is popular in Southern European cooking especially French cooking. Tarragon has its origins in Central and Eastern Europe, andthese cultures used it as a digestive aid and as a stimulant for poor appetites. Belonging to the sunflower family, it has glossy green leaves which possess a strong herbaceous and licorice-like flavor. Marjoram leaves can be bruised and steeped in vinegar for salad dressings, dips or marinades. An essential ingredient in fines herbs, it is added to French Dijon mustard, and sauces that are cream, mayonnaise, and egg based, such as béarnaise, hollandaise and tartar. In the U.S, where many flavors have been influenced by French cooking, marjoramis used in stuffing, eggs, roasts, seafood sauces and salad dressings.It flavors a carbonated bright green soft drinkcalled tarhun,popular in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia.